About Sandrouni

The story of Armenian ceramics would have been told so differently had it not been for the "Pro-Jerusalem Society". This committee, founded by Sir Ronald Storrs, the first military governor and his advisor Charles Robert Ashbee, undertook the restoration and preservation of Jerusalem's historic sites during the British mandate. For the restoration of the centuries old glazed tiles decorating the Dome of the Rock, the "Society" located David Ohannessian of Kutahya, a master ceramist whose works enhanced the splendour of palaces in Turkey, Syria and Egypt, and were much in demand in Europe and the Middle East. David Ohannessian established Jerusalem's first Armenian ceramic workshop in 1919. The workshop never accomplished the restoration project of the Dome of the Rock tiles. However, it was not long before it started catering for Jerusalem's big international as well as the elite of its local communities. In spite of its short lived production, (1919-1948), the grace and beauty of Ohannessian's tiles changed the face of the city by decorating its mansions, institutions and public places, and influenced Jerusalem's arts and crafts till this present day and time.